How To Overcome Self-Loathing: 5 Steps To Self-Love

Whether you’re sick of hiding away your body or tired of trying to silence the nagging, incessant voice inside your head telling you ‘you’re not good enough…you’re too lazy/stupid/unattractive/…’, it’s time to make a change and take the first steps to self-love.

A lack of self-love can be incredibly damaging to our happiness. Why do we feel it is acceptable to talk to ourselves in a way we would never dare talk to anyone else?

‘I’m so fat…’

‘My dad said I’d never make anything of myself… and he’s right’

‘When did I get so OLD?!’

‘I'm not good enough for that job…'

‘No one will ever love me!'

Each of us is born into greatness; we are all remarkable pieces of art, perfect, unique. Why would you want to convince yourself of anything otherwise?

There is no bigger enemy than the ego. Arguably our greatest critic, our ego (or the ‘voice’ in your head) is the saboteur of the mind, distorting self-image and using negative words to make us feel much smaller than we are.

How To Overcome Self-Loathing

Do you spend so much of your time judging the parts of you that aren’t movie-screen perfect you’ve become blind to your life? Are you desperate to pull the plug on the critical chatter that’s filling your mind?

5 Steps To Self-Love

1. Embrace Your Uniqueness

You are one-of-a-kind… stop seeing yourself as incomplete or imperfect… you are YOU. There is no one in the world better at this than you.

Consider, perhaps for the first time, how miraculous you are. You’re a one-of-a-kind creation that has never been seen before or might ever be seen again. Surely this is cause for celebration?

2. Choose Your Definition of Beauty

Learn to lose your preconceptions of what constitutes as ‘beautiful’. Release the misbelief that beauty is what you find on the cover of a magazine or at the movies, broaden beauty’s definition, to include yourself.

The saying ‘true beauty lies within’ has far more truth in it than most people give it credit for.

3. Anchor Yourself In The NOW

Self-loathing, anxiety, stress, anger… you’ll find that there is no space for any of these things when you’re able to be in the ‘now’.

Learning to live in the present has many, many advantages. In this particular instance, one advantage would be that when you’re living in the now, you’re no longer having to play the ‘one-day…’ game.

This endless game of pinning your happiness on a far-off, yet-to-exist moment is a dangerous one. We can all only ever work with what we’ve got, the here and now. Practice accepting yourself and feeling good right now.

4. Say ‘Thank-You’

Rather than obsess about the thing’s you’d like to change, you need to start focusing on and appreciating all the things you’re thankful for in yourself. Even if you’re not ready to love yourself, you can still appreciate the many things you take for granted that perhaps others are not so fortunate to have.

5. Be a Lighthouse

We are unlimited, abundant, beautiful beings and we ought to be treating ourselves as such.

Once the practice of self-love has become second nature to you (as it should be!), this love will be clear for the rest of the world to see.

A person that loves themselves and that knows their self-worth oozes love in all other areas of their life. They find it easier to give and receive love from the people around them; they enjoy more meaningful relationships and stronger connections. A person that loves themselves also loves their life!

First and foremost, love yourself for YOU. But just as importantly, love yourself to lead the way for the many others stuck in a place of self-loathing. Be the lighthouse others strive towards. A world where everybody knew how to love themselves would be a world much better off.

Are you ready to embrace self-love? Give yourself a compliment in the comments now, something you truly love about yourself and spread positivity today!

Katherine Hurst used to live a normal life until something happened that changed her life forever. She discovered the Law of Attraction and began a new, life-changing chapter. She now runs the world's largest Law of Attraction community with millions of followers. Her mission is to share her own experiences to inspire change and happiness in the lives of all.